Hisham Bashraheel

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One opinion was relayed to me repeatedly by numerous
journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders during the week I just spent
in Yemen: The crackdown against independent and opposition media in the country
has not been this concerted at any time since the unification of the southern
and northern halves of the country in 1990.

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We issued the following statement after learning that Hisham Bashraheel, editor of the daily Al-Ayyam, who has been in custody since January 6, was released today for what colleagues described as “health reasons.” The release comes one week after CPJ called on President Saleh of Yemen to release a number of journalists who are in custody but have not been charged with a crime. At least three other journalists remain in government custody...

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Top Developments
• Government censors newspapers, establishes new press court.
• Two journalists jailed without charge; one missing after being abducted.

Key Statistic
8: Newspapers banned for periods beginning in May due to their coverage of unrest in the south.

Continuing a steady years-long decline, Yemen became one of the most repressive countries in the region for the press. Journalists covering clashes in the country’s restive south faced severe restrictions. Government repression reached its peak in May, when at least eight newspapers that had covered violent protests were barred from distribution, several papers faced criminal charges, and one paper came under direct attack from state security agents. Government officials established a special court for perceived news media offenses.

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Ministers and
officials representing some 20 Western and Arab governments and international
financial institutions declared themselves “friends of Yemen” during last week’s closed-door meeting in
London to address threats posed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, according
to news reports. Participants,
including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered assurances that
the international community, in addition to providing military cooperation, would
work with the Yemeni government to promote human rights and build democratic
institutions. But skeptics fear this publicized “friendship” will also provide an
opportunity for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to intensify his attacks on
political dissent and independent journalism.

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New York, January 6, 2010—The Committee to Protect
Journalists condemns the arrest today of the editor-in-chief and managing
editor of the independent daily Al-Ayyam on the third day of a government
siege of the compound that houses the paper’s offices in Aden.

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New York, January 4, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to instruct authorities to peacefully end a siege of an independent daily that is now in its second day in Aden.

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Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to express its concern about your government's recent crackdown on media outlets that have covered civil unrest in the southern part of Yemen.

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New York, May 13,
2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a raid today by
Yemeni security forces on the Aden
compound of the country's most popular independent newspaper. One passerby was
killed.

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New
York, May 8, 2009--Amid an increasing crackdown on the media in Yemen, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Yemeni
authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a journalist who has been held
incommunicado since May 4 after he was arrested in southern Yemen. CPJ also
called on the authorities to drop a series of lawsuits against an independent
critical newspaper.